


The Sixth Doctor

by ANGSWIN



Series: Saving the Multiverse [6]
Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Dimension Cannon, F/M, Regeneration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-10-22 16:57:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10701216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ANGSWIN/pseuds/ANGSWIN
Summary: The stars are going out and Rose needs the help of the Doctor – she just doesn’t know which one! With the help of the TARDIS, she jumps into each of the Doctor’s lives until she finds the one that she is looking for and forges an even stronger bond with him along the way…This is Part 6 of my “Saving the Multiverse” series.This series takes place after the events of my “Torchwood Rose” series.





	The Sixth Doctor

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a missing scene from the beginning of the classic _Doctor Who_ episode, “The Twin Dilemma” (Season 21 - Episode 7). It occurs right after his regeneration, but before they disembark on Titan 3.
> 
> The Sixth Doctor is very well known for his favorite outrageous outfit, his quotes, and for being brash, arrogant, and moody!

[](https://postimages.org/)>

**The Sixth Doctor**

 Rose barely felt the transition this time as she left the Fifth Doctor’s console room and slid straight into the next one. One moment she was standing in front of the blond Doctor whose lips she could still feel on her own.  The next moment she was standing behind another Doctor.  He was blond, too - with a head full of hair so thick and curly that she was immediately tempted to reach out and plunge her hands into it.  However, she became a little distracted when she looked down.  She had to blink several times before she would admit to actually seeing what was before her…

“Doctor, what the hell are you wearing?”  She couldn’t help letting the dismayed exclamation finally slip out as she referred to the garish multicolor patchwork coat, long polka-dotted tie, and brightly colored striped trousers that draped over the man’s stocky frame.  At the sound, he turned around to blink at the woman who had suddenly appeared at his console. 

“What the hell am I wearing?  More like what the hell are you wearing?  As Peri so eloquently put it before…Yuck!” he exclaimed in a churlish tone.

“I see that you are still rude…and still definitely not ginger!” Rose exclaimed with a nostalgic smile as she completely brushed off his insult.

“Alas, I do lament the lack of ginger, but…me…rude?  Never!”  he answered sardonically before looking at her more carefully.  “Hmm…I seem to have some gaps in my memory today.  Who are you again and what are you doing in my TARDIS?”  he asked.  He looked at her with eyes that were still bleary and tired from his ordeal.   He couldn’t quite remember who this woman was, but somehow he knew that she wasn’t a threat, and he even felt some vague affection for her.  Therefore, he just shrugged, then promptly forgot about her again as he started pushing buttons on the console – also forgetting that they had already landed on Titan 3. 

Rose frowned at this strange behavior.  He acted almost as if… “By any chance, has he recently regenerated?” Rose whispered to the young dark-haired woman, (“ _Peri,”_ the TARDIS supplied the name), who was standing next to the console – and who was obviously in shock herself. 

~~~~~

  **Regeneration**

Peri was _so_ confused.  She had just experienced the most horrible day of her life.  First, her sweet, kind Doctor had changed into _this_ … and had chosen that hideous outfit…and then tried to kill her!  Then, this woman just appeared out of thin air and she and the Time Lord started insulting each other!  However, she did seem to know him – even with this new face - and acted quite confident, even affectionate – with his odd, bordering-on-downright-mean behavior.   Therefore, Peri decided to trust her.  What choice did she have anyway?  She didn’t think that she could handle this new Doctor on her own.  She needed help.

Therefore, she nodded in agreement and whispered, “Just a few hours ago.” Her breath hitched as she tried not to cry, remembering just how terrible that it had been.

“Oh, thank goodness!”  Rose exclaimed in relief – much to Peri’s surprise.  “I was beginning to worry that this was part of his new personality.”  She reached over and patted Peri’s hand.  “Don’t worry.  Sometimes he gets regeneration sickness and will act strange for a couple of days afterwards.”

“This is normal?” Peri cried out disgustedly, but still confused and scared.  “My sweet Doctor changed right before my eyes into this one and then he tried to kill me. He thought I was a spy!” 

“What?” Rose exclaimed with dismay.  “Oh, I am so sorry, Peri.  That’s terrible!  The worst thing he did after regenerating on me was crash the TARDIS.  Then he spent a couple of days in a coma while I had to try and fend off an alien invasion with my ex-boyfriend and the Prime Minister.”

Just then a haughty voice came from behind them.  “Me…crash the TARDIS and then sleep through an alien invasion?  Don’t be absurd!  Wait a minute…which Prime Minister was it?”

“Harriet Jones,” Rose stated calmly while turning around to face him again – as if this was a normal conversation. 

“Ah…yes…Britain’s Golden Age…” he muttered in a disconnected kind of way – still not looking at her.

Rose looked at him with concern.  “Doctor, how are you feeling?  I know that you can be a bit…disoriented…after a regeneration.”  Rose placed her hand over his and _felt_ his foggy confusion.  Then she tried again, {Doctor?} she asked directly to his mind – thinking that it might help.

{Rose?} came the weak answer as her mental voice pierced his confused thoughts and the Doctor’s eyes finally lit up in remembrance.  “Rose!” he shouted out loud, making Peri jump.  Rose just grinned.

“Hello, Doctor! Welcome back!” she exclaimed and smiled.  He grinned, too, and took a few steps to cover the distance between them.  Then he pulled her close and kissed her – simply, but with feeling.  Both of them ignored Peri’s sound of surprise at the sight and when they pulled apart, the Doctor leaned his forehead against hers. 

“I’m so sorry, Rose.  I seem to be having some…trouble…this time around,” he murmured as he slipped out of her grasp and hit the smooth floor in an unconscious heap.

“Oh, no!” said Rose emphatically.  “Not again!” 

Peri just stood there and stared.  “What’s going on?  Did you just kiss the Doctor? Who are you?  What happened to him?”

“Just a moment, Peri. I know that this is all very confusing and I will answer your questions as soon as I can.  However, we need to take care of the Doctor first.”  Then she shifted her attention to the ship.  “TARDIS dear, he needs to rest – and he can’t do it here.  Could you please bring one of the bedrooms up next to the console room, please?    This new body looks a bit heftier than any of his previous ones. I don’t think that we will be able to carry him very far.”

Peri watched in disbelief as the lights flickered in the console room and listened as Rose said, “Thanks, Girl!” and then patted the console. 

“Were you talking to the ship?” she asked. “Why?” 

Rose answered with a shrug, “She’s not _just_ a ship, you know.  She’s my friend, and we need her help.  Now, we have to move the Doctor.  Why don’t you grab his legs and I will get his arms?”

With those words, the women picked him up the best that they could and half-carried, half-dragged him out of the console room to the first door that they came to.  Rose gently lay the Doctor’s top half back on the floor and opened the door to reveal a calm and serene room.  “This is my room!” she said in surprise and then flashed a little knowing grin at the wall.  “What are you up to, Girl?”  The ship just sent a mental shrug and a feeling of smug satisfaction back.  Rose shook her head with a bit of fond disbelief and then she picked up her half of the Doctor again and gestured for Peri to do the same.  Then they shuffled him, a bit awkwardly, over to the bed.  Peri took off his shoes while Rose removed his atrocious coat and tie.  She muttered something about burning them.  However, in the end, she just tossed them onto the chair, instead.  Then she tucked him in.  Peri looked on in amazement while this strange woman smoothed the Doctor’s brow and then kissed his forehead gently.

Rose monitored his breathing and his heartbeats for a minute and then, when she was satisfied, asked the TARDIS (aloud for Peri’s benefit) to keep an eye out for him and to let her know if there were any changes.  Finally, she looked over at the other woman.  “Tea?” she asked pleasantly.  She smiled at Peri’s uncertain nod and led the still shell-shocked young woman over to the galley.  Fortunately, the TARDIS had moved it right across the corridor so that they would not have to be very far from the Doctor. 

~~~~~ 

  **Peri**

“Okay, now let’s focus on you.”  Rose told Peri as she gently pushed the other woman down into a chair.  “I think that you are still in a bit of shock.  Therefore, I assume that he didn’t tell you anything about regeneration before it happened?”

Peri shook her head sadly and Rose sighed.  “Why am I not surprised?”  she asked as she moved around the galley to make a large pot of tea for the two of them.  Peri looked like she certainly needed it.  Rose also knew that the Doctor would need some when he woke up. However, she strongly suspected that she would be making a new pot by then.  As she thought about the Doctor, her face suddenly clouded over as a thought occurred to her. “How did he…you know…?”

“Die?” whispered Peri. 

Rose nodded and Peri explained about how they were both suffering from Spectrox poisoning and how the Doctor had given her the antidote – since there was only enough for one.  Rose smiled wistfully, and she wiped away a few tears at the thought of the previous Doctor.   

“I’m not surprised,” she said to Peri. “He was such a kind and gentle soul in that body.”

“ _He_ was sweet!  I liked _him_!  This new Doctor is _not_!  He’s harsh and he’s rude and…” here her breath hitched again, “…he tried to strangle me!”

“Now, now, Peri,” Rose said soothingly as she brought the younger woman a cup of tea and pulled her into a comforting hug – where she could really feel the turmoil of the woman’s emotions.  She was a roiling pit of fear, horror, surprise, and confusion.  Rose remembered all too well what it felt like and set out to put Peri’s mind at ease. Therefore, she pulled away from her gently and tried to explain.  “The first thing that you need to know about regeneration is that it is like a volcanic biological explosion on a cellular level.  All of his cells died and then had to be rebuilt from scratch – just like that.”  Here she stopped and snapped her fingers for emphasis.  “Therefore, there is no wonder that sometimes there are less than pleasing side effects.  Unfortunately, that sort of manic behavior is one of them.  The good news is that such effects are temporary.  They won’t last long and they will soon go away completely.”

“That’s almost exactly what he said,” Peri replied.  She felt a little reassured now that she knew that Rose had been through this before.

“Yes, well, he _is_ the expert with this sort of thing.  However, the poor man seems to be having a harder time than normal with this one.  At any rate, the second thing that you need to know about regeneration or his “renewal” as some of the Doctors call it - is that inside, he is the same man.  He has the same memories and the same core beliefs that make him the Doctor that we know and love.  However, the outside package does change.  His looks will be different and so will his overall demeanor and mannerisms.  However, you should start seeing little peeks, here and there, of your old Doctor soon.  Then you will realize that he never really left you at all.  He is still there underneath.  Every time I meet a new Doctor, I still see layers of all of the previous versions of him that I have known.

“How…how many?” Peri asked hesitantly.

“How many Doctors?” Rose asked, making sure that she understand the question correctly.  When Peri nodded, she answered, “The man we just put to bed is the Sixth Doctor.”

“How long have you known him?  You two seem quite…close,” Peri asked.  She found that she was still quite interested in this unusual situation- in spite of the shocks of the day.  In fact, she was feeling much better now. The tea and Rose’s calm and simple answers had soothed most of her fears away.

“In his timeline or mine?” Rose laughed.  “I have been lucky enough to have met him in all six of his incarnations so far and in two of his future ones, as well.  In fact, I’m really from _his_ future.   The Ninth Doctor was _my_ very first Doctor.  I traveled with him full-time in the TARDIS.  He was the one who sacrificed himself for me and the one whom I saw regenerate without any prior knowledge - so I definitely know how you feel.  However, I soon became just as fond of his…successor…and stayed with him as long as I could.  Now, I am traveling back up the Doctor’s timeline because he is helping me with an important…project…you could say.  In fact, that reminds me.”  She shifted her attention to the ship again.  “TARDIS dear, could you please run a current star scan for me?  I don’t know how long Mr. Clown Coat will be out of it…” Here she paused to smile, “and you know how long the scan takes.  Therefore, I would rather not wait for him to be able to do it.”  Then Rose became quiet as she listened to the ship’s _reply_.  “Thank you, Girl.  You know that I would never leave him like this, but who knows what he is going to be like for the next day or two?  He may not even remember what I am doing or why.  Therefore, I would rather not chance it!”

Rose looked back at Peri, who was watching her intently.  “Speaking of that hideous outfit, where did he get it, anyway?”

Peri shrugged.  “He just found it in the wardrobe room.”

“I wished that I had found it last time, then…I would have hidden it, at least.  He has probably already imprinted on the damn thing now, though.  Once he finds an outfit he likes, he doesn’t want to let it go.”  She then proceeded to amuse Peri with descriptions of all of the previous and future Doctors’ wardrobe choices.  Then they went on to share stories of their most outrageous adventures of traveling through time and space with the alien that meant so much to both of them.

Rose found that she liked the young American, who had come from a time that was only about twenty years before her own.  In fact, Peri reminded her so much of herself when she had first started traveling with the Doctor. Therefore, they were able to find enough common ground to spend a few hours in pleasant girl talk until the TARDIS interrupted to let them know that the Doctor was awake.  Peri then witnessed one of Rose’s delighted smiles as she made the Doctor some tea and then they crossed the corridor to go back to the bedroom.

 ~~~~~

  **Awake**

The Doctor was sitting up in bed when Rose and Peri arrived.  “This isn’t my room – at least I don’t think it is,” he grumped as Rose sat down on the bed next to him and handed him his tea.  Peri sat in the chair with the Doctor’s coat. 

“Here, this will help you,” Rose said.  “Free radicals and all that, you know,” she added with a smile.  Then she looked at him closely.  “Do you remember who I am and who this is?” she asked, gesturing towards the other woman. 

“Rose Tyler…Of course, I remember.  How could I forget you?  Yes, I remember Peri, too.  I have only experienced a renewal - not gone completely senile, you know!”     

“You could have fooled me!” Peri remarked quietly from the chair while Rose just responded with one of those dazzling tongue touched grins that the Doctor definitely remembered!  He felt his own lips turn up in response to it.

“Good!” she said in a heartfelt way.  “Hopefully, your memory has stabilized then.  I think it was flickering in and out there for a while.  As for the room,” she continued, “it is mine.  I guess I didn’t specify when I asked the TARDIS to send a bedroom up close enough that Peri and I could carry you to it.”

To her surprise, the Doctor gave her an intense look and said, “This is not the way I imagined being in your bed for the first time, Rose Tyler.”  At these words, Rose found that she was blushing despite herself as she heard Peri make a strangled sound behind her. 

“Okay, that’s enough out of you!”  she told the Doctor firmly when she had regained control of herself. “I think that you have poor Peri worried enough without making it painfully obvious that you have no filter between your mind and your mouth for a while after you regenerate.”

“Trust me, Rose, that I did censor quite a bit of what I could have said!  I didn’t not even mention that I wanted to…mmph!”  Here he was silenced by her finger over his mouth. 

“You are being quite…forward,” she said quietly – not sure how to feel about him finally putting voice to some of the thoughts that she had longed to hear – and knowing that it was only because he had been compromised by the regeneration process.  She knew him (all of him) well enough to know that he was going to be horrifically embarrassed by these admissions after he recovered.  That thought just made her a bit sad, but she still wanted to protect him as much as possible – even from himself!

The Doctor thought about it and realized that maybe it wasn’t the right time for such revelations, after all – especially since she obviously thought that he was half out of his mind with regeneration sickness anyway.  Therefore, he just took her hand away from his mouth, and then held it in his own.   “Yes…perhaps you are right, my dear.  After all…even in matters of the heart…discretion is the better part of valor.”

She nodded, secretly thrilled at the meaning behind his words, and reached over to brush a wayward curl off of his forehead. “True,” she said quietly.  “Now, would you like something to eat?”  At his curt head shake, she continued.  “Well, if that is the case, then you need to rest some more.  Last time, you passed out.  This time, you need some natural sleep in order to stabilize completely.  You are already starting to look better…”

“I will not be kept in bed like some sick little Time Tot!” the Doctor interrupted belligerently, obviously put out by not being the one in charge for once.  Once he realized that she was unimpressed and wasn’t going to budge, he tried another tactic.  “What about your mission?  I haven’t forgotten, you know.  I need to run the anomaly scan and then…”

“It’s already been taken care of, Doctor,” Rose said with a smile, fully aware of what he was trying to do, and she was happy to thwart his plans.  “I have already asked the TARDIS to run the scan for us.  Plus, if an anomaly does show up and you are still incapacitated, what then?  Are you going to force me to deal with another alien invasion – or something even worse – on my own?  I suppose that Peri can take Harriet’s place…” here she paused to wink at the woman still sitting quietly in the chair while incredulously listening to them spar, “but it wouldn’t be the same without dear ol’ Mickey!  He is still in the other universe, remember?  Of course, I guess that Jack and I can probably handle it on our own, but …”

Here she was interrupted by the Doctor making a dismissive sound and saying, “As if that Pretty Boy, ex-Time Agent, Cassanova-wannabe could be as useful as me!  I’ll just…”

“Get your rest, in case the need for your expertise and experience really does arise?” Rose finished his sentence for him and he realized with some chagrin that he had fallen right into her trap.

“Well played, my sweet and devious Rose…well played,” he muttered as he gallantly kissed the back of the hand that he was still holding.  He then reluctantly agreed to try and rest for a little while longer. 

~~~~~ 

  **Goodnight**

He awoke some hours later, feeling less like a weak bedraggled kitten and more like a Time Lord!  Rose had been correct in her diagnosis and prescription, then.  _Rose!_   His hearts lightened immediately when he thought of her.  He was so happy to see her again, but he hated it so much that she had seen him like this – weak, disoriented, and at his lowest point physically and mentally.  He remembered their last good-bye and how he had decided that he would be strong and confident when he saw her again.  He had planned to take her into his arms and tell her everything that his last few regenerations had not been able to…  All of a sudden, the Doctor cringed in embarrassment as he remembered his blundered attempts to do just that earlier when she had brought him tea in bed.  Unfortunately, he was afraid that he had made a fool of himself, instead – in front of Peri, too!  He was suddenly grateful that Rose had not let him continue.  He would just have to find a way to do it correctly another time when she would be able to believe that he meant what he said and not that his temporary condition was responsible for it.  Then, just as he decided this, the door to the bathroom opened, and the woman about whom he had just been thinking stepped out.  She was wearing her usual pajamas and his hearts almost stopped beating for a minute when he realized that she was planning to get into bed – with him!

“Rose?” he asked uncertainly.

“Oh, hello, Doctor.  I was trying not to wake you.  How are you feeling now?” she asked tiredly.  She sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at him with eyes full of concern.

“Well,” he said sitting up a little bit and rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.  “It turned out that you were right and that I needed more sleep.  Therefore, I am feeling much better now – thanks to you.”

Rose noticed the cute embarrassed movement and remembered that her pinstriped Doctor had often done the same thing.  Maybe it was a leftover mannerism from this one?  She didn’t mention it, but she did answer him.  “Good, I’m so glad!” she said sincerely.  “You fell asleep almost immediately after you stopped arguing with me, so Peri and I left you alone to rest.  However, she was also exhausted by the events of the day, so I sent her to bed, as well. You gave her quite a scare, but we talked things through, so I think that she will be alright now.  At any rate, I stayed up for as long as I could because I didn’t want to disturb you.  However, I then decided that this was my bed and that you would just have to share it with me…especially since the TARDIS decided to hide all of the other bedrooms and even the library and its sofa.    She is quite devious, you know.”

“That I do!” agreed the Doctor.  “However, I can’t find it in my hearts to complain about it right now – especially if it means that I get to spend the night with you in my arms again,” he added eagerly.

“Mmm, I must admit that I like the sound of that, too…” whispered Rose.  She took that as an invitation and slipped between the sheets in order to snuggle up to him.  He wrapped his arms around her and her sigh of contentment mirrored the wordless joy that he suddenly felt.  He knew, deep inside, that this was the way that things were meant to be!  That feeling only intensified when she suddenly lifted up her head and kissed him.  It was a short kiss, but it was deep and heartfelt, as was her murmured, “I’m _so_ glad that you are okay now.” Then she laid her head back down in the hollow of his shoulder and her breathing deepened and evened out almost at once. He realized then how worried and exhausted that she must have been all day.  However, she had not said a word.  She had just soldiered on and spent the entire day taking care of both him and Peri – even though she was still carrying her own burdens, as well.  That was just the way of his Rose, though.  He adjusted his position slightly so that he could look at her while he held her and thought about how much better this was than the last time that they had slept together - all cramped on the library sofa.  He reached up and lightly brushed some stray hair off of her face and was immediately reminded of a quote from Emerson:  _There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence._ He smiled at the absolute truth of the statement as it applied to this woman.  He then gave into the demands of his new body that was almost-but-not-quite-ready and fell back to sleep, as well – holding tightly onto the most important woman in all of his lives.

~~~~~

  **Good Morning**

They were rudely awakened when Peri burst in the next morning, all but shouting.  “Doctor, Doctor, there is some kind of alarm going off at the console and I can’t find Rose anywhere… oh!”  She stood there for a moment just staring in disbelief at the sight of Rose snuggled up in bed with the Doctor!  Thank goodness that they were both still fully dressed or her brain might have exploded.  She didn’t know why she was so surprised, though.  She definitely knew that they were fond of each other and she had seen them kiss, but… _this_ …was a bit too much to process – especially with this _new_ Doctor!

The Doctor opened one eye and looked at her reproachfully.  “Peri, pray tell- do you really think that all of this commotion is completely necessary?”  When she didn’t say anything, but just stood there staring, he just sighed and asked, “Is the console chiming?”  At her nod, he continued.  “It’s just the completed star scan.  Kindly go and hit the green button on the center panel twice and the noise will stop.  Hopefully, the noise in here will cease with your exit, as well.”  After hearing these words, Peri huffed and stalked out of the room.  The Doctor chuckled briefly and leaned forward to place a kiss on Rose’s forehead.

She stirred and said, still a bit sleepily, “This new you _is_ a little bit mean, you know!  You can’t blame _that_ on regeneration sickness.”  She smiled at him anyway, though.

“I am _not_ mean, I am _confident_!” he retorted – with a smile of his own as he looked down at the sleepy and tousled, but always beautiful, woman in bed with him.

Her only response was to finally plunge her hands into his inviting curls {I have _so_ been wanting to do that!} she admitted in her thoughts that she sent to him.  Then she fisted his hair and pulled him down for a long passionate kiss.  He groaned with the pleasure of it and immediately took the lead.  He proceeded to explore her mouth with his in a way that none of the previous Doctors would ever have dreamed of doing!

“Confident, indeed!” Rose stated breathlessly as she reluctantly ended the kiss, pulled away from him, and headed into the bathroom to complete her morning ablutions – before she lost control and did a lot more than kiss him!  She had _felt_ the want and the need in his embrace and knew that he had felt the same in hers. However, even though she knew she loved _every_ him and definitely wanted him, she also knew that their relationship was way too complicated to even consider doing something like _that_ at this time _._

~~~~~

At first, the Doctor could do nothing but lie there and grin after Rose left.  She certainly brought out of side of him that had laid dormant for so long that he had almost forgotten that it existed!  After a moment, he realized with quite a bit of amazement that it was probably for that exact same reason that Rose had pulled away, too.   Even though he was disappointed with her decision, he also completely understood.  As far as she was concerned, their future was still _uncertain_.  He knew better, however, and would just have to find a way to show her!   With this decision, he also realized that he finally felt fully recovered and energized.  Therefore, he jumped out of the bed and put on his new beloved coat and tie.  Then, after hearing the shower, he realized that Rose would be occupied for a little while.  He found that he had to fight off the completely inappropriate urge to join her.  Therefore, in order to keep his resolve -and to give her some time to finish - he went off to find his own room where he could freshen up a bit, as well.

~~~~~

  **Goodbye**

The three of them eventually met back up in the console room. The Doctor had made it there first and Rose knew from one look at his face what the final verdict was from the star scan.  The Doctor knew with one look at her that she knew the outcome, as well – especially since she was already wearing her “jumping” outfit. 

“I’m sorry!  It looks like it was not meant to be – at this time,” he said and she stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around him. 

“It’s okay,” she murmured back.  “I guessed as much when I saw that the TARDIS had my outfit ready for me.  She knew that it was time for me to leave.”

They just held each other for a moment – while Peri looked on.  She had left after turning off the chime, but had just walked back in.  Therefore, she didn’t know exactly what was happening.  However, Rose had explained why and how she was jumping into each of the Doctor’s lives.  Therefore, Peri guessed that Rose was about to leave again – especially since the new Doctor looked so upset!  Peri still didn’t know how she felt about him, but she knew that she didn’t want to see him sad. 

Therefore, she asked, “How about some breakfast…before…?” Both the Doctor and Rose nodded, so she headed out of the console room to start preparing something for them all.  Before she left, however, she saw the Doctor lean down and a place a single gentle kiss on Rose’s forehead before they followed her out.  _Maybe he’s not so bad, after all,_ Peri thought contemplatively.

They all shared a quick and simple meal and before they knew it, they were in the console room together again for the last time.  Rose said her goodbyes to Peri, hugged her, and then whispered for her to give the new Doctor a chance.  Peri nodded in acquiescence and stepped back to allow the Doctor to say goodbye, as well. 

“Do not watch the petals fall from the rose with sadness.  Know that, like life, things sometimes must fade, before they can bloom again.”  He quoted as he gathered Rose up in his arms one more time.  “Even though I don’t want to, I know that I must let you go – if I am to see you again and secure our future,” he said aloud and watched her eyes widen a bit in surprise at his implication.  Then he sent a thought to her mind.  {Regeneration sickness or not, I meant what I said yesterday.}  He then looked back up into her startled eyes that had started to gleam with good humor.

{Still feeling _confident_ , then?} she thought slyly and he nodded happily as he bent down to show her just how much.

“Oh, I like this you!” she breathed aloud after they parted - with two sets of tingling lips and three rapidly beating hearts between them. 

The Doctor smiled a little at that as he leaned his forehead against hers, but then he shook his head sadly.  “I am sorry that this was a wasted jump for you, Rose - no adventures…no fun…and no solutions – just a sick Time Lord.”

“Time that I get to spend with you – any version of you - is _never_ wasted!” she admonished him gently, “and I am _so_ thankful that I got a chance to know _this_ you!” She was then gratified to see his eyes brighten a little.  “Goodbye, my Doctor,” she added as she reached up to stroke his face once more before she stepped back and typed the jump sequence into her wrist comp. 

“Until we meet again, my Rose,” he said quietly, but with feeling.

There was just enough time for Rose to give a friendly wave to Peri and to blow a kiss to the Doctor before she disappeared.  The Doctor then turned to Peri.  He sighed with regret as he reached up to surreptitiously repress the memories of Rose in her mind.  Just then, they heard a tremendous crash outside on the surface of the asteroid where they had been parked the entire time.  At least he wouldn’t be bored, he thought gratefully before locking away his own memories of that amazing woman - until he was fortunate enough to see her again. 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
